July 2015 ~ engineering information technology

Omnivision Adds PDAF to its 13MP RGBW Sensor

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PRNewswire: OmniVision announces the OV13853, a 13MP PureCel image sensor based on 1.12um pixel with phase detection autofocus (PDAF). The OV13853 fits into a compact 8.5 mm x 8.5 mm module with a z-height of less than 5 mm. The sensor is currently in volume production.

"The mobile device ecosystem has progressed vastly, and we believe that DSLR features such as PDAF can now potentially be in play even for the mainstream smartphone segment. In light of this, we are announcing today our first 13-megapixel sensor with special phase detection pixels to support PDAF for this segment," said Badri Padmanabhan, product marketing manager at OmniVision. "The OV13853 enables PDAF and is a pin-to-pin compatible upgrade from our previous 13-megapixel sensor. The OV13853 can thus be easily integrated into mainstream smartphone designs, which can dramatically shorten lead time to production."

Arctic Sea Ice Collapse Threatens - Update 2

The image below shows sea surface temperature anomalies in the Arctic on July 30, 2015.

Due to warm ocean waters and to heatwaves on land that extended over the Arctic Ocean, while warming up rivers ending into the Arctic Ocean, the sea ice has taken a battering over the past few weeks, as illustrated by the images below.

Above image shows the last bit of thick (5 m) sea ice in the Canadian Archipelago, which became dislodged on July 8, 2015. It looks set to be virtually gone by August 7, 2015, according to the 30-day Naval Research Laboratory animation below, and as also discussed in greater detail in a recent post.

The situation at the north-eastern tip of Greenland doesn't look much better, as illustrated by the image below.

The comparison image below also shows the north-eastern tip of Greenland on July 5, 2015 (top), and on July 31, 2015 (bottom). The bottom image shows water in many places, pushing the last pieces of thick ice into the Wandel Sea and Fram Strait .

[ click on images to enlarge ]

Until now, the thicker multi-year sea ice used to survive the melting season, giving the sea ice strength for the next year, by acting as a buffer to absorb heat that would otherwise melt away the thinner ice. Without multi-year sea ice, the Arctic will be in a bad shape in coming years.

[ click on images to enlarge ]

What caused the dramatic melting of this thick ice? The left panel of above image shows temperatures. On July 29, 2015, temperatures as high as 23.1°C (or 73,7°F) were recorded on the north coast of Victoria Island, in the Canadian Archipelago (green circle where the arrow points at). The satellite image on the right, captured that same day, shows that hardly any ice was left in the waters surrounding the area.

So, will the sea ice collapse this year? Consider the following four points:

Volume - The image on the top right shows sea ice volume as calculated by PIOMAS at the University of Washington. It shows that in June, volume was less than 2015 in only four years, i.e. 2010 through to 2013. The situation has deteriorated much in July 2015, and looks set to deteriorate even further.

Thickness - Volume is calculated by looking at both thickness and extent. Thickness is looking much worse than it did in the years 2012 through to 2014, as illustrated by above image.

In my experience, sea ice thickness hasn't looked this bad for this time of the year since records began, especially when taking the loss of multi-year ice into account, as also illustrated by the full-width above image.

Extent - Sea ice extent on July 31 was only outside the 2 standard deviations (shaded area) in the years 2007, 2011 and 2012, as illustrated by the image mid right. The dark blue line marks the 2015 extent, with the dot indicating extent on July 31, 2015.

Area - Similarly, Arctic sea ice area is illustrated by the image on the right. For a description of the difference between extent and area, view this NSIDC FAQ page. The bottom right image marks Arctic sea ice area as on July 30, 2015. The yellow marker indicates the situation for the year 2015 on this date. The only years with less sea ice area at this time of the year were 2007, 2011 and 2012.

Also consider that 2015 features very high sea surface temperatures and an El Niño that is still gaining in strength. Thick sea ice appears to be shattered, as illustrated by the satellite images. In conclusion, sea ice looks set to take a further battering over the next few weeks and could end
up at a record low thickness, extent, area and volume around half September 2015.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the image below.

Above image shows a trendline (shaded area) based on satellite data from 1979-2014, with annual minimum volume figures calculated by PIOMAS. The shaded area points at a total disappearance of the sea ice as early as September 2018. The width of the shaded area reflects natural variability, but natural variability could be wider than that, as illustrated by the fact that minimum volume in the years 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012 was lower than the shaded area. In other words, disappearance of the sea ice could occur even earlier than September 2018 and if things get really bad, collapse could even occur as early as September this year.

The situation is dire and calls for comprehensive and effective action, as discussed at the Climate Plan.

Will the sea ice collapse this year? Firstly, consider that sea ice volume now hasn't been this bad for any day in July...
Posted by Sam Carana on Friday, July 31, 2015

Hutchinson Introduces SMA OIS Actuator

GlobeNewsWire: Hutchinson expects to begin shipping prototypes of a new Cambridge Mechatronics' Shape Memory Alloy Optical Image Stabilization (SMA OIS) actuator to tier 1 camera module manufacturers in early August. The new Gemini product was designed in response to customer requests for reduced OIS camera thickness. Gemini is said to reduce SMA OIS actuator thickness by more than 70%, to enable the world's slimmest OIS smartphone cameras. Gemini is expected to be ready for volume production in Q4 2015.

Building on the value users place on "selfie" photos, Hutchinson Technology is also developing SMA OIS designs to improve front-facing camera image quality. Front-facing SMA OIS samples are also expected to be available in Q4 2015.

Meanwhile, the UK-based Cambridge Mechatronics that has licensed its technology to Hutchinson reports that its smart metal OIS camera was launched in InFocus M530 smartphone in India.

Omnivision Presents New VGA Sensors

PRNewswire: OmniVision announces the cost-optimized and power-efficient OVM7699 CameraCubeChip and OV7699 CameraChip based on 1.75um OmniBSI+ pixel. The 1/13-inch OVM7699 and OV7699 are said to have the industry's smallest footprint and intended for a wide range of applications, including feature phones, mainstream smartphones, notebooks, wearables and IoT devices, among others.

The OVM7699 comes in a 2.1 mm x 2.1 mm CameraCubeChip™ module with a z-height of approximately 2.3 mm, while the OV7699 comes in a 2.03 mm x 2.08 mm CSP. Both the OVM7699 and the OV7699 are currently available for sampling, and are expected to enter volume production in Q1 2016.

ON Semi Announces Automotive ISPs

BusinessWire: ON Semiconductor introduces a new series of image co-processors for 1080p HDR automotive cameras. Designed to work in conjunction with the company’s 2MP and 1.2MP image sensor devices, the new AP020x series of co-processors enable a range of solutions for automotive rear view and surround view cameras. The new image co-processors all incorporate an HDR color pipeline with adaptive local tone mapping (ALTM).

The AP0200AT image co-processor is optimized for rear view cameras and offers Ethernet output. It also includes a spatial transform engine (STE), which enables lens distortion correction and de-warping, as well as a sophisticated overlay graphics engine.
The AP0201AT also has Ethernet output and is aimed at Ethernet-based surround view.
The AP0202AT is targeted at digital surround view and utilizes a 24-bit parallel output.
The AP0102AT is targeted at 1 MP/720p rear view cams, and includes the STE and overlay graphics engine

Light Closes $25M Series B Financing

Light has raised a $25M Series B round of funding. All of Light existing investors participated in this round, in addition to new investors Formation 8, which led the round, and StepStone. This brings Light’s total funding to around $35M.

The Light camera prototypes are now up and running. The company has doubled the size of its team in the last three months and plans to double it again before the end of the year.

Forbes publishes an article on the Light's financing round:

"The way Light’s camera technology works is by placing multiple cameras on the back of a phone — around 6 or 11 cameras. Light stitches together all those images with its software to come out with high-resolution photos. Depending on how many cameras the phone maker chooses, it can achieve between 32 megapixels and 52 megapixels.

Light’s cameras can also zoom using what’s called folded optics, which is a method of bending light to make the camera’s size requirements more compact. Light can zoom between 70 millimeter and 150mm.

The Light module is paired with a Snapdragon application processor from Qualcomm."

"The build of material costs will be at least $60 for phone makers to add Light’s technology, but [Light CEO] Grannan points out that that’s nothing compared to having to shell out $2,000 for a nice DSLR camera."

"Light expects the first phones to come out with its camera will be in 2016."

Light camera-phone

Toshiba Unveils PDAF-Equipped Sensor Lineup

BusinessWire, PRNewswire: After presenting its first image sensor with PDAF 2 weeks ago, Toshiba announces a full lineup of these sensors, all based on 1.12um BSI pixels. The part numbers of the new sensors are same as the previously announced ones, but with -121 suffix to indicate a PDAF-enabled version:

Sample shipments of devices in the series will start in August, and they will be rolled out in turn.

Sony Reports Another Increase in Image Sensor Sales

Sony reports its quarterly results for the quarter ended on June 30, 2015. Few quotes:

"[Sony Devices Segment] Sales increased 35.1% year-on-year (an 18% increase on a constant currency basis) to 237.9 billion yen (1,950 million U.S. dollars). This increase was primarily due to a significant increase in sales of image sensors reflecting higher demand for image sensors for mobile products, the impact of foreign exchange rates, as well as a significant increase in sales of camera modules. Sales to external customers increased 41.2% year-on-year.

Operating income increased 18.8 billion yen year-on-year to 30.3 billion yen (249 million U.S. dollars). This significant increase was primarily due to the impact of the above-mentioned increase in sales of image sensors and the positive impact of foreign exchange rates."

Update: Sony publishes an updated Semiconductor Business Flyer:

Canon Commercializes its ISO 4,000,000 FF Image Sensor

BusinessWire: Canon introduces its first multi-purpose camera, the new ME20F-SH, with exceptionally high sensitivity to capture Full HD video with a minimum subject illumination of less than 0.0005 lux (color, no light accumulation, f/1.2, 30P fps, 50 IRE, at maximum 75 dB gain setting, equivalent to an ISO sensitivity of over 4,000,000). Nighttime surveillance and security, cinematic production, reality television, and nature/wildlife documentaries are just some of the ME20F-SH’s many possible usage applications.

Canon’s new multi-purpose camera employs an enhanced version of the 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor that was originally developed in 2013. The ME20F-SH sensor has pixels measuring 19 μm, said to be more than 5.5 times the surface area of the pixels on the CMOS sensor featured in select top-of-the-line interchangeable lens cameras. Furthermore, the sensor’s pixels and readout circuitry make use of Canon proprietary technologies to achieve both reduced noise and exceptionally high sensitivity on subjects with a minimum illumination of less than 0.0005 lux. This multi-purpose camera allows users to discern subjects under even some of the dimmest lighting conditions, such as environments lit by artificial illumination or under a moonless night sky. Furthermore, similar to Canon’s Cinema EOS System of professional digital cinematography cameras, the ME20F-SH camera includes Canon Log and Wide DR.

ME20F-SH is expected to be available in December 2015 at a suggested retail price of $30,000.

A DSLR comparison picture from Canon Japan site:

Canon plans to make sample images avaliable in Sept 2015 on this link.

Nokia OZO Combines Eight Cameras into One

Nokia announces OZO, said to be the first commercially available VR camera designed and built for professional content creators and the first in a planned portfolio of digital media solutions from Nokia Technologies, the company's advanced technology and licensing business. Conceived at the company's R&D facilities in Tampere, Finland, OZO captures stereoscopic 3D video through eight synchronized global shutter sensors and spatial audio through eight integrated microphones.

Verge shows many pictures from the new camera presentation in LA:

Samsung Enters Mass Production of 1um Pixels

BusinessWire: Samsung announces the industry’s first 1.0μm-pixel-based 16MP sensor for mobile devices. The new S5K3P3 leverages the company’s ISOCELL pixel technology.

“As a trendsetter in the mobile image sensor business, we are pleased to be the first to deliver the most advanced 1.0μm-pixel imager, which meets both high-resolution and slim design requirements for smartphone cameras,” said Kyushik Hong, VP and Head of S.LSI Marketing at Samsung Electronics. “Starting with 16Mp sensor, Samsung plans to further expand 1.0μm-pixel product category and lead the image sensor market for high performing slim mobile devices.”

Built with 1.0μm pixels, the new 16MP image sensor reduces the module’s overall height by 20%, compared to current 1.12μm-pixel based 16MP sensor modules, enabling a module z-height that is less than 5mm.

In addition, the S5K3P3 takes advantage of Samsung’s ISOCELL technology to deliver image quality that is on par with 1.12μm-pixel based image sensors. Using ISOCELL technology reduces color crosstalk of neighboring pixels by adding physical barriers between each pixel.

Meanwhile, the newly announced OnePlus 2 smartphone goes in the opposite direction and uses larger 1.3um pixels in its 13MP sensor from Omnivision. The phone also has laser-assisted 200ms-fast AF:

"Despite being a go-to measure for smartphone cameras, megapixels fail to tell the whole story. The true test of a camera is the quality of its image sensor and optics. Our sensor contains large 1.3µm light-collecting pixels—the biggest ever in a 13MP smartphone camera—for unmatched low-light performance."

Intel RealSense Front Camera Reverse Engineering

Chipworks publishes a report on Intel structured light RealSense camera reverse engineering.

The front-looking camera uses changing light pattern projected through ST-manufactured MEMS mirror:

The RealSense's IR image sensor has a lot of circuits around the pixel array:

Storms Over Arctic Ocean

The image below shows sea surface temperature anomalies over the Arctic on July 27, 2015.

[ departure from 1961-1990 temperatures, click on image to enlarge ]

The image below shows sea surface temperature anomalies on July 28, 2015.

[ departure from 1971-2000 temperatures, click on image to enlarge ]

There is a growing chance that the sea ice will collapse over the next few weeks, due to heavy melting and storms speeding up the flow of sea ice out of the Arctic Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean.

An example of such storms is shown on the animation below. This is a forecast for July 31, 2015, showing cyclonic winds at the center of the Arctic Ocean, with strong winds moving sea ice down Fram Strait.

The above situation alone is not likely to trigger sea ice collapse. It is more likely to be short-lived. However, there is a growing possibility for such storms to emerge and drive the melting sea ice out of the Arctic Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean.

As the situation in the Arctic further deteriorates, feedbacks can be expected to kick in with growing strength.

One of these feedbacks is the growing amount of heat (due to both latent heat and albedo changes) that will have to be absorbed by the Arctic Ocean as the sea ice disappears, and that will accelerate warming of the water of the Arctic Ocean.

Another feedback is a changing jet stream, as illustrated in above animation. This, in combination with the presence of more open water, can be expected to cause increasingly intense storms over the Arctic to emerge. Such storms can bring more heat into the Arctic Ocean, especially during heatwaves over North America and Russia. Such heatwaves can further cause surface heat to be mixed down to the seafloor, especially in the many places where the Arctic Ocean is very shallow. This can in turn cause destabilization of hydrates, resulting in huge amounts of methane to be abruptly released from the seafloor.

Methane itself is yet another feedback that will accelerate warming in the Arctic, in turn threatening to trigger further methane releases in a spiral of self-reinforcing positive feedback loops.

The situation is dire and calls for comprehensive and effective action as discussed at the Climate Plan.

Sea surface temperatures over the Arctic on July 27, 2015. There is a growing chance that the sea ice will collapse over...
Posted by Sam Carana on Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Piping Engineer (Offshore) - Thailand AMEC-FW

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Intro to 2nd Generation Sony Global Shutter Sensors

Point Grey publishes a nice Youtube video explaining the differences between 1st and 2nd generations of Sony Pregius CMOS sensors:

The Wireless-Car-Hack Recall: A Real-Life Drama in Three Acts

Act One—2010-2011

As automakers begin to build in more wireless technology to enable not only hands-free mobile phone use from their cars but streaming audio services and navigational and safety aids as well, some researchers at UC San Diego and the University of Washington look into the possibility that these new two-way communication paths can be used to hack into a car's computer for nefarious purposes. After months of work, they manage to use a wireless connection to disable the brakes on a particular car, which to this day remains anonymous. Rather than releasing the maker's name in their research publication in 2011, the researchers suppress it, and instead go privately to the car's manufacturers and warn them of the vulnerability. Also in 2010, more than 100 car owners in the Austin, Texas area whose vehicles were linked into a system that can disable a car if the owner gets behind in his payments, found that their cars wouldn't start. Only, they weren't deadbeats—one of the enforcement company's employees got mad at his boss and intentionally disabled the cars.

Act Two—2012-2013

Two freelance computer security specialists, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, read about the UCSD/University of Washington wireless-car-hack study and decide to investigate the issue further. They apply for and receive an $80,000 grant from the U. S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), with which they buy a Ford Escape and a Toyota Prius. With this hardware, they teach themselves the intricacies of the automakers' internal software and as a first step, develop a wired approach to hacking into a vehicle's control systems. This allows them to plug a connector into the car's diagnostic port and operate virtually any system they wish. However, when they show this ability at Defcon 2013, a hacker's convention, representatives of automakers are not impressed, pointing out that they needed a physical connection to do the hacking. That inspires Miller and Valasek to go for the ultimate hack: wireless Internet control of a car, and demonstration of same to a journalist.

Act Three—2014-2015

After reading dozens of mechanics' manuals and evaluating over twenty different models, the pair decide that the model most vulnerable to an online hack is the Jeep Cherokee. Miller buys one in St. Louis and the pair begin searching for bugs and vulnerabilities in software. Finally, in June of 2015, Valasek issues a command from his home in Pittsburg and Miller watches the Cherokee respond in his driveway in St. Louis. They have succeeded in hacking remotely into the car's CAN bus, which controls virtually all essential functions such as brakes, throttle, transmission, wipers, and so on.

After the lukewarm reception they received from automakers a couple of years earlier, they have decided a stronger stimulus is needed to get prompt action. When they informed Fiat Chrysler Autos of their hacking work into the firm's Cherokee back in October of 2014, the response was minimal. Accordingly, they invite Wiredjournalist Andy Greenberg to drive the Cherokee on an interstate highway, telling him only in general terms that they will do the hack while he's driving, and surprise him with particular demonstrations of what they can do.

Greenberg must have felt like he was in a bad sci-fi flick about aliens taking over. As he recalled the ride, "Though I hadn’t touched the dashboard, the vents in the Jeep Cherokee started blasting cold air at the maximum setting, chilling the sweat on my back through the in-seat climate control system. Next the radio switched to the local hip hop station and began blaring Skee-lo at full volume. I spun the control knob left and hit the power button, to no avail. Then the windshield wipers turned on, and wiper fluid blurred the glass." During the finale, the hackers disabled the transmission, throwing it into neutral and causing a minor backup on the interstate.

Greenberg's article appears on Wired's website on July 21. On July 24, Fiat Chrysler Autos announces a recall of 1.4 million vehicles to fix software flaws that allow their cars to be hacked remotely via the UConnect Internet connection that Miller and Vasalek used. It is the first recall ever due to a demonstrated flaw that lets hackers access a car through its Internet connection.

. . . Back in December of 2014, I blogged on the possibility that someone would figure out how to use the Internet to hack into a car's controls. At the time, I reported that several automakers had formed an Information Sharing Advisory Center to pool knowledge of problems along these lines. And I hoped that nobody would use a remote hack for unethical reasons. What Miller and Vasalek have done has ruffled some feathers, but falls short of truly illegal activity.

Instead, it's in the tradition of what might be called "white-hat" hacking, in which security experts pretend to be bad guys and do their darndest to hack into a system, and then let the system designers know what they've done so they can fix the bug. According to press reports, pressure from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration prompted Fiat Chrysler Autos to issue the hacking recall as promptly as they did, only three days after the Wired article appeared. The annals of engineering ethics show that a little adverse publicity can go a long way in stimulating action by a large organization such as a car company.

You might ask why Fiat Chrysler's own software engineers couldn't have done what Miller and Vasalek did, sooner and more effectively. That is a complex question that involves the psychology of automotive engineers and what motivates them. Budgeting for someone to come along and thwart the best efforts of your software engineers to protect a system is not a high priority in many firms. And even if an engineer with Fiat Chrysler had concerns, chances are that his superiors would have belittled them, as they did Miller and Vasalek's demo of the wired hack in 2013. To do anything more would have required a whistleblower to go outside the company to the media, which would have probably cost him his job.

But this way, Miller and Vasalek get what they wanted: real action on the part of automakers to do something about the problem. They also become known as the two Davids who showed up the Goliath of Fiat Chrysler, and this can't do their consulting business any harm. Best of all, millions of owners of Cherokees and other vehicles can scratch one small worry off their list: the fear that some geek somewhere will pick their car out of a swarm on a GPS display somewhere and start messing with the radio—or worse.

Sources: The Associated Press article on the Fiat Chrysler Auto recall appeared in many news outlets, including ABC News on July 24 at http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/fiat-chrysler-recalls-14m-vehicles-prevent-hacking-32665419. The Wiredarticle by Andy Greenberg describing the Cherokee hack is at http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/. My latest previous blog on this subject appeared on Dec. 1, 2014 at engineeringethicsblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/will-remote-car-hacking-stop-before-it.html.

Rumor: Qualcomm Vuforia Group is Up for Sale

One of the recent rumors I got: "As a part of QCOM's restructuring efforts announced this week, the Vuforia team is being put up for sale. After the Metaio-Apple purchase, which took a key client opportunity off the table, and with Google Android with their own internal solution, it is not surprising that QCOM management would make this move as a part of their restructuring efforts."

Just over a month ago, Vuforia won Auggie Award: "The Qualcomm Vuforia mobile vision platform won an Auggie Award for “Best Tool” for the third year in a row at this year’s sixth annual Augmented World Expo (AWE). Hosted by AugmentedReality.org, AWE celebrates wearable computing, gesture devices, the Internet of Everything, and of course, augmented reality (AR)."

The company's Vuforia Youtube channel has a lot of demos of the platform:

Arctic Ocean Temperatures Keep Rising

People's emissions are causing the planet to heat up and more than 93% of this heat goes into the oceans.

People have measured ocean temperatures for a long time. Reliable records go back to at least 1880. Ever since records began, the oceans were colder than they are now. NOAA analysis shows that, on the Northern Hemisphere, the 20th century average for June is 16.4°C (61.5°F). In June 2015, it was a record 0.87°C (1.57°F) higher.

Back in history, there have been times when it was warmer. The last time when it was warmer than today, during the Eemian Period, peak temperature was only a few tenths of a degree higher than today, according to the IPCC. In those days, there was huge melting, accompanied by extreme storms and sea levels that were 5 to 9 m higher than today.

In many ways, the situation now already looks worse than it was in the Eemian. "The warm Atlantic surface current was weaker in the high latitude during the Eemian than today", says Henning Bauch.

Carbon dioxide levels during the Eemian were well under 300 ppm. So, there could well have been more pronounced seasonal differences then, i.e. colder winters that made that the average ocean temperature didn't rise very much, despite high air temperature in summer. By contrast, today's high greenhouse levels make Earth look set for a strong ocean temperature rise.

As illustrated by above image, contained in ocean temperature data from 1880 for the Northern Hemisphere is a polynomial trendline that points at a rise of almost 2°C by 2030. This indicates that temperatures across the Arctic Ocean could soon be even higher than the peak temperature was back in the Eemian Period. Indeed, the Arctic Ocean temperature is rising at a terrifying pace, the more so given that there seems to be no end in sight soon for this rise.

This rise of almost 2°C by 2030 is not limited to the month of June. As above image shows, it applies to the 12-months period from July 2014 to June 2015 as well.

In some places, the Arctic Ocean is already very warm. Sea surface temperatures around North America have increased to very high levels and they are threatening to further raise the temperature of the Arctic Ocean.

The Arctic sea ice is on the verge of collapse, as discussed in earlier posts such as this one and this one. This dramatic decline of the sea ice in 2015 is the result of a combination of factors, including:

High levels of greenhouse gases over the Arctic Ocean, as illustrated by the screenshot below showing high carbon dioxide concentrations over the Arctic (from NASA video).

Furthermore, methane levels are very high over the Arctic. An earlier image showed methane levels as high as 2512 parts per billion on July 17, 2015, with high methane levels north of Greenland that also showed up on an earlier image at this post.
High levels of ocean heat in the North Atlantic, as illustrated by the image below showing high sea surface temperatures off the east coast of North America; much of this ocean heat will be carried by the Gulf Stream into the Arctic Ocean over the next few months.
High sea surface temperatures in the Arctic Ocean, as illustrated by the image below.
High air temperatures over North America and Russia extending over the Arctic Ocean, as illustrated by the image below showing a location well inside the Arctic Circle where temperatures as high as 37.1°C (98.78°F) were recorded on July 2, 2015. (green circle).
Wildfires triggered by these heatwaves resulting in darkening compounds settling on snow and ice, making it more prone to melting, as illustrated by the image below showing smoke reaching high up into the Beaufort Sea on July 22, 2015.
Very warm river water running into the Arctic Ocean, as illustrated by the image below, showing sea surface temperatures as high as 19°C (66.2°F) off the coast of Alaska on July 19, 2015.

The danger is that collapse of the sea ice will further accelerate warming in the Arctic, as sunlight that was previously reflected back into space and heat that previously went into melting then will all be absorbed by the Arctic. Furthermore, more open waters will increase the possibility of storms that can mix surface heat down to the bottom of the seafloor, and destabilize sediments that contain large amounts of methane in hydrates and free gas.

Such feedbacks are further discussed at the feedbacks page, including the danger that further warming of the Arctic Ocean will unleash huge methane eruptions from the Arctic Ocean seafloor, in turn driving temperatures up even higher and causing more intense wildfires, heatwaves and further extreme weather events.

The image below shows a non-linear trend that is contained in the temperature data that NASA has gathered over the years, as described in an earlier post. A polynomial trendline points at global temperature anomalies of over 4°C by 2060. Even worse, a polynomial trend for the Arctic shows temperature anomalies of over 4°C by 2020, 6°C by 2030 and 15°C by 2050, threatening to cause major feedbacks to kick in, including albedo changes and methane releases that will trigger runaway global warming that looks set to eventually catch up with accelerated warming in the Arctic and result in global temperature anomalies of 16°C by 2052.

[ click on image to enlarge ]

The situation is dire and calls for comprehensive and effective action, as discussed at the Climate Plan.

People's emissions are causing the planet to heat up and more than 93% of this heat goes into the oceans. People have...
Posted by Sam Carana on Saturday, July 25, 2015

Pelican Imaging Layoffs?

Somebody posted in comments that Pelican Imaging has just layed off most of the company. Whether this is true or not, their technology page points to a big shift in direction: instead of being a main camera for smartphone, the company now proposes a supplementary camera array for just a depth map:

"This unique "array + main camera" approach allows mobile handset manufacturers to choose their own primary camera module (whether it’s 8MP, 13MP, or 20MP), and benefit from excellent image quality paired with the depth data from the scene."

Update: EETimes confirms the layoffs:

"The company said that approximately half the staffing of 25 was let go.

A spokesperson for Pelican Imaging confirmed that the company has "reduced some of its staff recently, to allow the company to focus on core product development."

"Regrettably, Mark Fulks has left the team at Pelican. Mark is a very well respected leader and we wish him success in his next endeavour," the spokesperson said."

Omnivision's Stockholders Approve Acquisition

PRNewswire: OmniVision's stockholders approved the Agreement and Plan of Merger of OmniVision, Seagull International Limited and Seagull Acquisition Corporation. Seagull International Limited and Seagull Acquisition Corporation are affiliates of a consortium composed of Hua Capital Management Co., Ltd., CITIC Capital Holdings Limited and GoldStone Investment Co., Ltd.

Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, stockholders of OmniVision will receive a total of approximately $1.9 billion. The transaction, which is expected to close in the third or fourth fiscal quarter of fiscal year 2016, is subject to regulatory approvals, including antitrust review in the U.S. and the People's Republic of China, review and clearance by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., clearance or approval under applicable Taiwan law, and other customary closing conditions. In order to obtain clearance or approval under applicable Taiwan law, OmniVision will divest certain of its investments in Taiwan, including certain of its interests in a joint venture.

Thick Sea Ice Dislodged

As the comparison image below shows, the last bit of thick sea ice has become dislodged from its location in the Canadian Archipelago and is forecast to be floating along with the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. The left panel shows the situation on July 19, 2015, while the right panel shows a forecast for July 31, 2015, run on July 23, 2015.

One reason for this development is of course the heavy melting that has taken place in this area. But what has made this thick sea ice move so strongly? The reason for this is a combination of wind, sea currents and meltwater running off the coasts of North America and Greenland. This has been persistently pushing this thick ice in this direction, as illustrated by the Naval Research Laboratory animation below.

The Naval Research Laboratory animation below shows sea ice thickness over a 30-day timespan, including a forecast up to 31 July, 2015, run July 23, 2015.

The screenshot below from arctic-io shows the sea ice on July 23, 2015, with an inset showing a rotated outcut from a Naval Research Laboratory ice thickness map for that date.

[ click on image to enlarge ]

The animation below shows a 5-day forecast of ice speed and drift up to July 27, 2015, starting from and run on July 23, 2015.

Furthermore, there has been a lot of smoke from wildfires in North America for some time. The image below shows smoke reaching far into the Beaufort Sea on July 22, 2015.

When smoke settles on snow and ice, it decreases albedo and makes it more prone to melting.

Seismic activity could also have contributed to this development. As the snow and ice cover on land disappears, isostatic rebound occurs, i.e. the land moves upward. Furthermore, an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.6 on the Richter scale was registered in Baffin Bay on July 22, 2015.

Above animation shows the last bit of thick sea ice becoming dislodged from its location in the Canadian Archipelago, from July 21, 2015, through to July 24, 2015.

Albert Kallio comments: "The more ice moves, the more heat it can pick up from the ocean - and melt. Also, the overturning of sea water in the ocean increases in the increasingly open sea areas - bringing heat up to the surface - and into contact with ice that then melts faster."

[ hat tip to Patrick McNulty for contributions to this post ]

The last bit of thick sea ice has become dislodged from its location in the Canadian Archipelago and is forecast to be...
Posted by Sam Carana on Friday, July 24, 2015

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